In 2009, David Blow
published "Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an
Iranian Legend”.
This book has twenty chapters. From
chapter one to chapter thirteen, the author is discussing Shah Abbas'
political life in chronicle order. From chapter fourteen to chapter
nineteen, the author discusses the King's private life, the dynamic
of Shia-Islam adheres to Twelve Saints with Sufism, Christian,
Judism, and Zoroastrian and his contributions to arts and culture.
The last chapter of this book discusses Shah Abbas successor Safi,
who was a weak leader. He failed to keep Iran united.
On June 02nd,
1524, Shah Tahmasp I became monarch of Iran. He had a son with name
Mohammad Khoda Bandeh, who made a family union with Khayr Al- Nisa
Begum. The result of this union blossom Abbas, who was the third son
of Mohammad Khoda Bandeh.
In 1576, Shah Tahmasp
passed away, and his son Ismail II ascended to the throne. Khoda
Bandeh could not become a king because he was blind from one eye. The
customs of that time did not allow a blind man to become a ruler of
Iran. In 1578, Shah Ismail II died, and Bandeh inherited the Safavid
Kingdom with the approval of the Qizilbash army leaders.
On July 26th,
1579, Khayr Al- Nisa Begum agitated Qizilbash commanders. In return,
the commanders planned to end her life by accusing her of having
extramarital affairs with Adil Giray, brother of the Crimean Tatar
khan, who held captive in Qazvin. Consequently, she lost her life.
Abbas began to dislike Qizilbash. On top of that, Qizilbash also
killed Abbas's brother.
King Khoda Bandeh lacked
the strong will and determination to lead Iran forward against its
archnemesis that they were the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbek militia
forces.
Murshid Qoli Khan was a
Qizilbash, who became the guardian of Abbas at the age of 14. In
October 1587, a large Uzbek army invaded Khurasan. Murshid decided
to appoint Abbas as the head of the state of Iran. On October 16th,
1587 King Khoda Bandeh did not object to his deposition and handed
the royal insignia over to his son. On October 1st, 1588,
Abbas was 17 years old, who became a monarch of Iran.
Iran located at the
epicenter of political realism because of the silk road in this
particular era. Ottoman Empire was keen to capture Iran and engaged
in massive military campaigns of conquering Iran. In 1578, the
Ottoman Empire began to encroaching on Iranian land; Iran's army
could not withstand Ottoman military forces.
In 1588, Shah Abbas asked
for unconditional peace from the Ottoman Empire. In 1590, Shah Abbas
signed the Treat of Istanbul to end the Ottoman and Safavid War.
Consequently, Iran lost lands to the Ottoman Empire.
Shah Abbas began to
reform Iran's army. Sir Anothony Shirley and his brother Robert
Shirley asked Monarch of England on behalf of Shah Abbas to enter
into an anti-Ottoman alliance.
Eventually, the Ottoman
Empire military engaged in suppressing the Celali Rebellions. Shah
Abbas used the moment and emancipated the lost lands.
In the 16th
Century, the Portuguese established a military base Gombroon; it was
a port in the Persian Gulf.
In 1602, Imama Quli Khan
Undiladze commanded Iran's naval army and pushed back the
Portuguese's navy from Bahrain. In 1622, with the help of four
English ships, Abbas regained sovereignty of Hormuz. And Gombroon's
name changed to Bander Abbas.
On January 19, 1629, Shah
Abbas closed his eyes at the age of fifty-seven and reigned for
forty-two years. His body rests in peace outside of Kashan, the
shrine of Habib ibn Musa.